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QMI AGENCY

May 31, 2012

, Last Updated: 8:25 PM ET

The early favourite as the next captain of the Detroit Red Wings is Henrik Zetterberg.

Three hockey reporters in Detroit -- Bob Wojnowski of the News, Helene St. James of the Free Press and Dan Fenner of the Oakland Press -- all figure Zetterberg is a shoo-in to replace the retiring Nicklas Lidstrom as captain.

The Wings have had only two captains over the past 26 years -- Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman.

Zetterberg -- like Lidstrom, a native of Sweden -- has been with the Wings since 2002. The 31-year-old left winger has 252 goals and 372 assists in 668 games with Detroit.

A FREE TATTOO, OR TWO?

If the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup, several hundred fans could be marked for life.

The House of Ink in Venice Beach, Calif., will offer free tattoos of the Kings logo should Los Angeles capture its first Cup.

"There could be a few hundred people lined up out the door" if the Kings win, tattoo shop owner Sean Heirigs said, according to NHL.com.

BYE, BYE BOSTON

Controversial Bruins goalie Tim Thomas moved his family to conservative Colorado from Boston midway through the season, CSNNE.com has reported.

"Thomas' future with the Bruins started to get a little cloudy when the White House brouhaha went down this year in January (when the goalie refused an invitation to go to the White House with his teammates)," CSNNE's Joe Haggerty said.

"Apparently, now the goaltender has lost that loving feeling for Boston."

JACKETS SIGN CENTRE

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed centre Derek MacKenzie to a two-year contract.

MacKenzie, who turns 31 on June 11, had seven goals and seven assists in 66 games with the Blue Jackets last season.

General manager Scott Howson called MacKenzie "a versatile and reliable player with a tremendous work ethic who brings energy to our team."

MacKenzie has 19 goals and 26 assists in 193 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Atlanta Thrashers.